upvote

points

by AussieWog937 hours ago |
comments
upvoteby HDBaseT6 hours ago|
next
[-]
I remember reading some stats on the Telstra phone boxes, they help a lot of people in need. A ton of calls go to emergency services, government services, etc.

I would be keen to know the total cost to run and maintain everything. There is a ton of boxes still around.

reply
upvoteby askvictor2 hours ago|
parent|
next
[-]
The costs are offset by the fact of the boxes providing free advertising for Telstra. That's the main reason they keep them operational.
reply
upvoteby xattt6 hours ago|
parent|
prev|
[-]
> A ton of calls go to emergency services, government services, etc.

Is it common for providers to charge for emergency service access? I thought this was a given.

reply
upvoteby dwattttt6 hours ago|
parent|
next
[-]
I believe emergency services calls are free. The cost being talked about is the maintenance cost to the provider.
reply
upvoteby toast03 hours ago|
parent|
prev|
[-]
My voip line has a charge for (e)911. I can pay $1.50 per month or $75 per call.

Since my local police department has no direct dial number, non-emergency calls are routed through 911; that's pretty unusual, but I don't want to pay $75 to call police non-emergency, so I pay the $1.50.

I've never seen emergency calling broken out on my bill from an ILEC though.

reply
upvoteby QuantumNomad_6 hours ago|
prev|
next
[-]
Telstra also provides WiFi access points to the proximity of many of their phone booths, which is very cool as well.

In my country we don’t have operational phone booths any longer, and haven’t had them for many, many years. They even went as far in my country as to dismantle and remove all of them save for a few that are still around for sentimental reasons but also not operational.

reply
upvoteby softveda6 hours ago|
prev|
next
[-]
That and most of the pay phone booths are now free public WiFi hotspots.
reply
upvoteby ctaloi6 hours ago|
prev|
next
[-]
Getting the correct keys to pay phones in the US seems to be a challenge.
reply
upvoteby bigstrat20037 hours ago|
prev|
[-]
I wish we had that in the US. Not due to abuse victims per se (though that does sound super useful for them), but just because it would be nice to not have to carry a cell phone to get ahold of people.
reply
upvoteby WarcrimeActual4 hours ago|
parent|
[-]
The US is functionally a Third World country now. There are so many places worse than us that have so many better things. Anytime you see a little thing like this that is a good idea and helps people you can just assume that America would either fuck it up or just hate it because it helps people. Or because of the fact that they can’t ring every penny from the stone.
reply
upvoteby Spooky233 hours ago|
parent|
next
[-]
It’s hard to appreciate this until you spend some time elsewhere.

I was in Barcelona for a few weeks for work. While I don’t want to pretend there are no problems, I can only say that life seemed better and happier than back home. I didn’t sense the cynicism that I’m used to. It was especially jarring considering that pretty much everyone is underpaid by American professional standards.

That said, it’s anecdotal, I speak mediocre Spanish and toddler level Catalan, and my boss was paying the bill. But it was still striking to me.

reply
upvoteby Telemakhos2 hours ago|
parent|
prev|
[-]
Urban life in the US had decayed considerably over the past thirty years. Life in the suburbs, small towns, and countryside, however, is amazing. I have a house in the countryside and rent in a city in another state when I need to be in the office. In the city I have to step over addicts passed out and their trash; in the country I don't bother locking my doors when I leave, and I have cheaper, faster, and more reliable internet. You can't really compare "America" to another country, because the cities and other places have radically different standards of living.
reply